EXCLUSIVE: Rick Brainard speaks to media for first time since arrest

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) -- Today, recently elected city councilman Rick Brainard broke his silence after being arrested for assault involving a physical altercation with his then-girlfriend on April 6th. He sat down exclusively with KKCO 11 News reporter Christy Dimond to tell his story.

Below is a portion of the transcript from the interview:

Dimond: I’ve personally spoken with people who’ve said they voted for you and are now wishing they hadn’t. Can you relate to that at all? Can you understand why people would have concerns about you being on city council?

Brainard: I can and I can’t. I believe in our U.S. constitution and I believe in our right for people to say what they need to say and change their mind. However, I haven’t been convicted of anything and at this point I think it’s completely premature for anyone to sentence me when I haven’t even had a trial.

Christy: Why do you think you’re fit to be on city council?

Brainard: As a businessperson, as a leader, I’m the same person today that I was a month ago. This city needs that help and I want to carry out the mission I signed up for and I don’t think this incident has anything to do with my role as a city council person.

Christy: What about this makes you so emotional?

Brainard: It’s embarrassing. It’s not something anybody should ever be proud of. It’s not something anybody should ever take lightly.

Dimond: There have been several rallies and demonstrations in the community here and people have portrayed you as someone who beats women. What do you have to say to that?

Brainard: They’re going to do what they’re going to do. I haven’t seen any of that but that I’ve heard about that. And I think what I would say to you is that’s what uniformed people do-- they stage rallies. The reality is anyone can go look at my record on this particular topic… I so regret what I did. It is as uncomfortable as you can imagine.

Dimond: What exactly do you regret?

Brainard: When I slapped her on her neck, it was right before I left. We were outside. You know, you get worried about the stupid stuff and that’s the thing, you play these things back in your mind and at first you want to defend everything and then you go, that was stupid.

Brainard: I want to apologize to my mother, to all of my supporters, to everybody in this community who I may have let down and I did. I let them down. but I'm a bridge builder and I see things like this as opportunities to really make a difference and that's what I intend to do.

Dimond: I can see visibly you’re getting emotional about this. Why?

Brainard: It's embarrassing. It's not something anyone should ever be proud of. It's not something anybody should ever take lightly. Again, I am the kind of person who will take the worst scenario you put in front of me and make it better. In this case, I've got great counseling. I've got great supporters and I intend to put an awful lot of energy into putting this in the forefront.

Dimond: I’ve personally spoken with people who’ve said they voted for you and are now wishing they hadn’t. Can you relate to that at all? Can you understand why people would have concerns about you being on city council?

Brainard: I can and I can’t. I believe in our us constitution and I believe in our right for people to say what they need to say and change their mind. However, I haven’t been convicted of anything and at this point I think it’s completely premature for anyone to sentence me when I haven’t even had a trial.

Dimond: Why do you think you’re fit to be on city council?

Brainard: As a businessperson, as a leader, I'm the same person today that I was a month ago. This city needs that help and I want to carry out the mission I signed up for and I don't think this incident has anything to do with my role as a city council person.

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